Ingredients: Seaweed, rice, grilled salmon skin, avocado

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Niche

Generally we’re told in North America to throw away the skin of any meat or seafood we might cook.

"Don’t eat chicken skin, it’s full of fat!"
"Peel the fish skin back so you can get at the meat!"
"Pork rinds? Ugh!"

But anyone who has tried a Salmon Skin Roll can tell you that not all skin is bad. In fact, a nice baked or grilled salmon skin inside an avocado filled inside-out sushi roll is quite the taste sensation.

Not only that – fish skin isn’t bad for you. It’s got loads of oils, such as Omega-3, and nutrients that often find their way into over-the-counter health products.

Just make sure it’s scaled first…

Ingredients: Seaweed, rice, barbecued eel, avocado

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Growing

Eel lovers totally dig this dish, but there’s not nearly as many eel lovers as there should be out there – especially in North America. 

The Unagi Roll is barbecued eel with a little avocado thrown in to cut the taste and texture with something smooth and sweet, and it’s a heck of a good combo.

Some sushi houses in your local area may vary a touch from this basic core of the dish (like adding cucumber or roe, or even other seafoods), but that tangy eel flavor and the sweet buttery goodness of the avocado are a potent combo.

Ingredients: Seaweed, rice, barbecued eel, cucumber

Preparation: Inside-out 

Popularity: Growing

Like the Anago Roll, the Anakyu Roll has many variations, and is growing in popularity as more and more people grow the cajones needed to stray from the usual US California Roll/Dynamite Roll diet.

Anakyu Roll is basically a Usagi Roll with cucumber added, though from sushi restaurant to sushi restaurant that’s likely to vary a touch.

Basically, for an Anakyu Roll to be good, the barbecued eel has to be primo. An Anakyu Roll with sub-standard eel is like steak tartare with a nasty piece of steak.

Ingredients: Seaweed, rice, barbecued eel (Anago), Japanese parsley (Mitsuba), cucumber

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Growing

Though a lot of people still won’t try eel, just because it’s not as common to westerners as chicken, there are a growing number of sushi fiends who, while looking to try something different, stumble upon the flavor and texture of one of Japan’s most popular seafoods.

The Anago Roll is basically an eel roll, and as such it can be made many different ways. Some have mayonnaise, some use egg as the outer skin of the roll (as seen in the photo above), which gives it an interesting yellow appearance (especially when topped with gold fish eggs), but really the only thing that you need to make an Anago Roll and Anago Roll is, well, Anago.

Seriously, give it a try. Eel won’t bite… well, as long as it’s barbecued first, anyway.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, salmon, crab, avocado, cucumber, mayonnaise

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Low

So you’ve tried the California Roll, and you’re like, okay, not bad. A little bland, but good lunchtime filler.

So what’s the next step up? Try the Tiger Roll.

The Tigey is a California Roll with baked salmon draped over the top, which while it might sound like only a slight variation on the usual theme, if the fish is fresh, it’s really frickin’ good.

Of course, the majority of Americans will order this because it has a funky name and the white and orange of the salmon gives it a somewhat tiger-like appearance, but there’s more to this dish than meets the eye (alone).

Think of it this way – if you usually order salmon sashimi and a california roll… doesn’t it make sense to save time and combine the two?

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, spicy tuna, fresh tuna, cucumber

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Low to moderate

It looks nice on a plate, that’s for darn sure, but in reality, this is tuna on tuna with some rice thrown in. And maybe that filler of all fillers, cucumber. But mostly tuna.

Those who enjoy a spicy tuna roll will like the added touch of fresh tuna draped over the top, in what gives this dish its two-tone appearance, but more seasoned tuna diners will forego the sushi roll altogether in getting their fishy-fix, and just dig in on some tuna sashimi.

But hey, not everyone is down with the act of slurping down mouthfuls of straight fish, so if you need the comfort of a little rice and seaweed (and sesame seeds and rice and…), then by all means, ‘enter the dragon’.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, crushed tempura batter

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Mid-range 

This is one kind of sushi roll that you don’t want to order if you’re on a diet. It’s literally nothing more than rice, seaweed and crushed tempura batter sprinkled on top – the sushi equivalent of a bread sandwich. 

But as with any sushi dish, this one can be elevated several levels if the person preparing it adds a little flair.

Tobiko roe, sesame seeds, cucumber, avocado, wasabi… these are just some of the items that can be included in the dish, and it’s not uncommon to find crab or vegetable tempura substituting for the more fattening tempura batter, or even to have the entire roll dipped into, and fried in, tempura batter.

However, if you’re looking for something ‘vanilla’ on the sushi menu, this is one to consider.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, lobster tempura, onion, orange tobiko (fish eggs), mayonnaise

Preparation: Cooked, inside-out

Popularity: Feh.

Not an item found in many sushi bars, the lobster roll tends to be made using lobster tempura rather than raw lobster, simply because raw shellfish is often a bad idea.

The roll is made inside-out style, and though our default lobster roll recipe uses onions and mayo on the inside and orange flying fish roe on the outside (to give that orange cooked lobster look), there’s no hard and fast rules about what might make a good lobster roll.

Cucumber? Avocado? Nothing but meat?

Really, it’s going to come down to the ingenuity of the sushi chef at hand, but don’t be fooled by the presence of lobster into paying a ridiculous amount for the dish – you’re really only going to get a thin strip of lobby meat worth maybe $4 beyond the standard sushi roll price.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, spicy tuna, salmon, white tuna, scallions, gold tobiko (flying fish caviar)

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Small, but growing

This is one tasty piece of sushi roll, especially if you like yourself a little seafood in your diet.

The inner portion varies from restaurant to restaurant, but our default dish has two types of tuna (white and spicy, but you could use yellowtail or, really, any kind of flavorful fish), with salmon alongside for a flavor contrast, and the bite of the scallions giving it a little tang to finish.

The gold tobiko is more for looks than taste, but it does the job and completes a really memorable sushi roll menu item. We likey! 

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, bacon, lettuce, tomato

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Not very

You know the feeling when you go to a Chinese restaurant and there’s cheeseburgers and steak on the menu, and you realize that more non-Chinese people than Chinese people come to this place and they’re covering every base as a result?

More a novelty dish than a legit sushi menu item (like much Americanized sushi), the BLT Roll is a good indicator of that kind of malaise. Frankly, this is one of those US sushi restaurant offerings that just smacks of, "Here, first-timer, this one’s for you. Look, no eel!"

Thankfully, the addition of rice and seaweed to a BLT isn’t something that particularly hurts it. Of course, it doesn’t help much either, but sometimes ‘not offensive’ is the high bar to shoot for, and the BLT Roll clears that bar easily.

A good sushi restaurant (if it even serves this dish) might throw a little mayo in there, or even a wedge of avocado, but let’s face it – if you order the BLT Roll, you’re looking for the contents of a sandwich that you can eat in a way that makes you appear cool. Extras not required.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate, mostly because there’s no centralized recipe

As with many Americanized versions of sushi, it’s tough to nail down the New York Roll to one specific recipe. In fact, it’s tough to nail down one specific ingredient.

Some versions are made with smoked salmon, some are made with apple, some go with the contents of a bagel, some are close to a California Roll, only made in reverse. In fact, even finding a picture of a New York Roll is a hard thing to do.

For our money, the version of New York Roll that makes the most sense is a ‘bagelized’ recipe. We go with smoked salmon (add the skin if you like barbecue as a flavor), cream cheese, cucumber, and perhaps a little avocado thrown in so it’s not too cheesy.

Around the outside, sure, go with a smattering of sesame seeds, and maybe garnish with a thin slice of apple… since… you know… New York… ‘Big Apple’…

Sometimes schmaltz is a good thing.

Of course, you could always add steroids, in honor of New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens… 

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, barbecued eel, avocado, tempura shrimp, burdock root, cucumber, flying fish roe

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate in the US

Another in the long line of sushi rolls in which decoration on a theme is almost as important as taste, the Dragon Roll tends to come with a slightly higher price tag, but if it’s done right, it’s worth every penny.

The avocado is usually draped across the top of the roll to give a ‘dragon scales’ effect, with the bright orange roe going on top of that to give contrast.

Inside, it’s all good stuff – BBQ eel, crunchy tempura shrimp, and the burdock root/cucumber combo to fill things out.

The Dragon Roll is a bit of a fatty dish, due to the deep-fried tempura, and while some variations might include hot sauce, or chili, to give it a fire-kick, generally at most sushi houses it’s a very mild menu item.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, shrimp, cucumber, mayonnaise

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Medium to low 

An east coast special, but virtually unknown on the other side of the US, the Boston Roll (sometimes known as the Ebi Roll) puts good old-fashioned New England shrimp in bed with Japanese mayo and cucumber to make a simple, yet tasty sushi menu item that is essentially a slight variation on the California Roll.

Some versions feature tobiko (flying fish roe) on top for a splash of yellow color, and a can’t-be-beat shot of flavor.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, eel, cucumber, avocado, smelt roe

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate

No, it’s not actually made of caterpillars; the caterpillar roll is dressed up to look like an insect by virtue of the green avocado, sesame seeds, and bright red masago (smelt roe) laid across the top.

Inside, it’s unagi (eel) and cucumber, which is a pretty one-dimensional combo, but it’s the good stuff on top that makes this a sushi dish to remember.

Some restaurants take the caterpillar theme to extremes, adding octopus suction cups as eyes, and bizarre additions as legs shooting out the sides… but none of this helps make the dish more palatable.

Just forego the extras and enjoy the meal.

Ingredients: Rice, seaweed, cucumber

Preparation: Inside-out

Popularity: Moderate

Pretty basic roll, really.

It’s your standard inside-out dish, rice on the outside, seaweed inside that, and thin sticks of cucumber in the middle.

Not overly tasty, but it’s cheap and it’ll fill an empty stomach… if you eat enough of the stuff.